Rockitaerials presents

CIRCO DE LA LUNA

Baruch Performing Arts Center
55 Lexington Ave
NY NY
1 April-5 June

Directed by: Mark Longergan
Choreography by: Sonia Olla, Pedro Ruiz and Valeria Solomonoff

Featuring Ismael Fernandez, Sonia Olla, Mark Gindick, AJ Silver, Amanda Topaz, Sarah Sophie Flicker, Anna Venizelos, Olga Karmansky

Aerialist Amanda Topaz, along with Flamenco Dancer Sonia Olla and Flamenco Vocalist Ismael Fernandez, have combined Spanish and Latin culture with contemporary circus acts to create CIRCO DE LA LUNA.

It begins with adorable clown Mark Gindick receiving a mysterious package which turns out to be a slide show of various cultural highlights from the Spanish/Latin diaspora which in turn sends him on a journey where he encounters magic, music and dance.

The journey is the tricky part. The circus acts are lovely and the flamenco is fabulous, but there does not seem to be any natural connection between them, so the transitions have no flow. There does not seem to be any relationship between any of the characters except the vocalist and dancer, and even that seems more like a call and response than any kind of connection between the two. The only times it all works is with the Boleadoras artist. There is a fun challenge between him and the Flamenco dancer, and another fun bit with him and the clown. It would have been great to see more interaction like that.

It is certainly not an unpleasant way to spend an evening, but it lacks the magic it purports to create.

- Jean Tait -